Too Close for Comfort
by middiegurl08
Summary: The virus has taken another hold of another member of Port Charles and this time it hits closer to Robin Scorpio that ever. How will she cope and who will be there to help her through? Will she pull through to the other side? Scrubs.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, so this idea popped into my head earlier today when I was reading another fan fic and it won't seem to leave me alone, so here it is. I have kept everything the same with Robin and Patrick, their meeting and everything. But what if Patrick's life was a little different than we see it everyday? So this is my interpretation of some changes in the show. So I hope you enjoy it…

Oh, and I know you all probably think I'm crazy. I have one story started already and starting another but what can I say? Robin and Patrick are addicting!

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing! And if I did… well let's just say, things would be different!

Summary: The virus has taken another hold of another member of Port Charles and this time it hits closer to Robin Scorpio that ever. How will she cope and who will be there to help her through? Will she pull through to the other side?

Here we go…

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To Close for Comfort

Chapter One:

She walked from room to room, inspecting her progress. She had been living in Port Charles again for almost six months and slowly, things were coming together. There were still the few odd boxes sitting in random corners in her apartment, but she had finally painted the walls and even hung a few pictures. She still didn't have much furniture but it didn't bother her much. She didn't spend as much time as she would have liked at home. She was always at the hospital. It seemed that she never had time to do anything besides work, which Patrick Drake made sure to bring up every chance he got.

Patrick Drake. The egotistical, arrogant, pompous… he was just so sure of himself. His ego had to be the size of Texas or larger and he had the inability to take no for an answer. He was always bringing up her social life, or lack there of according to him, whenever he was given the chance. It had quickly become his sole mission in life to annoy the hell out of her and get her to go on a date. One out of two...

She could tell herself that she wanted nothing to do with him. That she wished she had never talked him into coming to Port Charles but she would be lying and she knew it. She enjoyed the attention, most of the time. She enjoyed seeing the looks of longing on the nurse's faces when she and Patrick walked down the hall together. It was nice being envied for once. It was a nice change after being treated like glass or the plague for years because she had been infected with HIV.

"It" had happened to her when she was just eighteen years old and many would say that her life ended, and at the time she had thought the same thing. She had lost the one man that she had ever truly loved and in losing him, she gained this terrible disease. She thought that all of her plans were ruined and her dreams would never come true. But she soon realized that although it was a terrible disease and she would have to spend the rest of her life being aware of every danger, she also realized that was when her life began. She learned that life was something special and invaluable, something to not take for granted. Losing Stone, she thought at the time was the worst thing she ever could have experienced and she never thought that she would be able to move forward and have a life… but then there was Jason.

Jason Morgan. Once Jason Quartermaine. He was now known as Port Charles' resident hit man. He was the right hand man to Sonny Corinthos and everyone knew not to mess with him. But before he gained his reputation, she had known a completely different side of him. He was a loving and caring man, even though the doctors told him that he would never feel. He was the first man that she had loved after the loss of Stone. He was the man that brought her back to life again and helped her realize that her life wasn't over after Stone's death and after finding out about the disease.

Ironically enough, Jason had been the reason she had left Port Charles years ago and now he had been the reason she had returned. She had vowed to herself that once she left, she wouldn't return unless it was an extreme emergency, and in Jason's case it was. She returned to the place she had once called her home, and she hadn't been able to help him. She felt like she had let him down… and she briefly thought of going back to Paris. She had a great life, a few great friends. But here she was, standing in her own apartment trying to figure out what color her spare bedroom wall should be.

--

She walked aimlessly through the halls of General Hospital. She remembered as a child when she would come here for a routine check up for even to visit someone, she used to imagine herself as one of the nurses or if she really dreamed; a doctor. Now she walked through the halls and she couldn't stop think how lonely everything seemed. When she was a kid, everything seemed so magical and "big." She never really had a grasp on how much death these walls saw, how much pain and loneliness.

She glanced around at the faces of the lonely few sitting in the waiting room. They all looked lost in their own world, possibly thinking about their loved one who happened to be down the hall and through that certain door or wondering what the doctor would say about their cough that had suddenly come on that morning. Some were flipping through the pages of a magazine and some just sat staring at the pale blue walls. There were two children sitting quietly in the corner, their heads drooping. She couldn't help wondering if they really understood what was going on around them or if they were just sitting how they saw others. Were they there visiting someone? Had their "someone" lost their life and they were just sitting there? Were they the sick ones? She often asked herself these questions. She wondered what went on in their lives and she could watch them for hours, just trying to get a feel for who they really were.

He stood staring at her from his place, leaning against the wall. She was so lost in a trance that she didn't even notice him. He knew that she was watching the people sitting in the waiting room, trying to figure out why they were there. He figured every doctor did it. It was what he did… trying to tell himself that their lives were better than what he was seeing in front of his eyes. He didn't want to see the pain when he broke the terrible news to them; he wanted to imagine that he wasn't shattering their world to pieces.

He coughed lightly, bringing her back down to earth and to reality. She blushed slightly making him smile. She was beautiful. He often told her that but she never believed him. But it was his fault completely. It was his reputation coming back to haunt him, although he knew he hadn't been able to look at a beautiful woman the same way since he met her. Everyone he talked to, he compared to her. She truly was something special and he never lied to her when telling her how much he admired her talents as a doctor or that she was beautiful. He would never lie about something like that, but somehow he had already managed to hurt her and they weren't even dating. They weren't even really friends. But he being the idiot that he was couldn't take his time with her and wait; he had to run off in search of another woman. And that woman had to be Carly Corinthos, the one woman that Robin had a terrible history with. Now he was paying dearly and he was doing everything possible to get things back to normal between them. He missed their playfulness. He missed seeing her slight smile when he complimented her, even when he knew she wanted nothing more than to be angry with him. He missed her glaring at him; fire shooting from her eyes… it was at these moments that he really saw passion.

They had this little game they played, always picking on each other, pointing out each other's imperfections. It was what they both loved the most about their relationship but also what they hated. They both knew and understood each other better than either one was willing to admit. So they would argue constantly and begin to open up, growing closer to the other; only to pull away again when feelings started shining through. They had shared some great times together when it had just been the two of them, no one to impress.

_"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" _

_"Like what?" He smirked and immediately looked at the ground. _

_"Like that!" She smiled. They were walking through the park late at night on their way to Kelly's to get coffee after a long shift. _

_"Is there some sort of way I keep looking at you?" He smirked. He knew exactly what she had been talking about. He had just been saying to himself how beautiful she was. He had noticed how she looked like an angel when the moonlight hit her at the right angle and he had noticed the glow that formed in her eyes when she looked up at him, from that same light. He wanted to grab her and kiss her right there. He would even settle to for holding her little hand in his or wrapping his arm around her waist; just to be close to her. _

_"What are we doing, Patrick?" She asked wearily. She was getting serious and that made him worry. He knew that he felt something for her but he also knew that he wasn't quite sure what that 'something' was, and he certainly wasn't ready to tell her. How great would that be? Patrick Drake, the ultimate playboy, was falling for someone like Robin Scorpio. _

_"I- uh- What do you mean?" He was now avoiding her gaze. He wasn't ready to let her in. He wasn't ready to let her see inside his soul and he knew the minute their eyes connected, she would know the truth. She would be able to see it._

_"What is this? Obviously we aren't anything special…" She stopped. That hadn't come out the way that she had meant for it to. "I mean…"_

_"It's alright. I know what you mean." He spat and she noticed the pain in his voice. The pain that he had been trying so hard to hide. "I'm the exact opposite of the guy that you would ever date. I get that." _

_"Look…" She sighed. "…I don't know what this is. I know that I let myself fall in love twice and both times I ended up alone whether it be accidental or on purpose, and I promised myself then that I wasn't going to give my heart over to a man ever again."_

_"But that's not me Robin. We aren't all so bad… we don't all hurt the person that we love." He felt the need to defend himself even though he knew that there wasn't anything to defend. "But…" He stopped walking and looked her dead in the eye. "I know what you are saying." _

And they had sat on the bench in the middle of the park, never making it to Kelly's for that coffee. She had opened up about Stone and about Jason while he had opened up about the pain of losing his mother. They truly had understood each other and if anything, seeing each other's vulnerable side made the other fall even more for them. That night they had left things up in the air about the two of them, neither really knowing where they stood but they both had walked away with at least a little bit more of an understanding. And they had both agreed to keep their new information to themselves, never telling anyone that they had shared such a moment and never using it against the other person. And things really hadn't changed too much since that night. They only understood each other on another level. Other than that, they were still the same people and they still woke up every morning thinking of what torture they could inflict on the other.

"What were you so lost in thought about?" He questioned as he walked behind her, going to the patient rack and picking up a chart.

"That little girl over there in the corner." She replied. She was referring to the little blonde sitting next to what they thought was her grandmother. Her blonde locks were pulled up into two ponytails on either side of head. She was carrying an old, tattered teddy bear with her and one of her shoes was untied. "What do you think I her story?"

He glanced at the little girl and he felt his heart swell. It was known fact that he didn't have the best bed side manner, but this little girl broke his heart. She looked so scared and alone, even with the lady sitting next to her. There was something about her that showed that she had been through more than a child her age should have been, a sense of sadness that come through clearly in her eyes.

"Madison Webb?" Patrick questioned, walking over to the crowd waiting. To his surprise the little blonde girl jumped up at the sound of her name.

"That's me!" She gave a large smile, and ran over to Patrick. She held out her little hand waiting for Patrick to shake it. "Everyone calls me Maddie."

"Well, hi Maddie. I'm Dr. Drake," He said crouching down to her level. "What do you say you come with me and we'll see what I can do for you?" He stood back up and took her hand. He glanced back at Robin one last time. "We'll know soon enough." He stated simply before walking behind the curtain, followed by the woman with little Maddie and pulling it closed.

--

A/N: So what do you think? Do you like it so far? Maybe I'm crazy for starting another story but I can't help it Robrick are just too addicting! So I hope you all enjoyed it and look for another update soon!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm SO happy that everyone is enjoying this story already. As I said before, I'm going to be changing a few things around. So it'll be based on what's going on in the show but in a different way… if that makes any sense. But you guys will all understand soon enough.

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To Close for Comfort

Chapter Two:

It was times like these that Patrick really hated his job. He knew years ago when he entered medical school that he wanted to help people. He wanted to make a difference in people's lives and hopefully, help them get better. He wanted to make his father proud of him, become that man that his father would have wanted to watch grow up. And he felt that up until the past few years he had done that. He had worked himself to death those years while still in school, and what for? To tell a little girl that she had a terrible disease that might kill her? What had she done to deserve that… stayed up just a little too long past her bed time?

"Cancer." Patrick sighed as he walked over to the nurse's station, after seeing little Maddie off on the elevator. "That little girl has leukemia." Patrick stated. "She came in with a fever. She said she was tired… and now…"

"Why do children have to suffer like that? They are just so innocent. Why do they have to go through all of that pain?" She shook her head. She knew all too well that life wasn't fair. That things happen without a reason, and now that little girl's family was going to have to learn that same lesson. "How did the grandmother handle it?"

"That wasn't her grandmother." He said simply, his voice full of emotion, this not going unnoticed by Robin. "That was the woman at the orphanage where she lives." Why did people have to suffer so terribly? Why did their families have to watch them go through their pain until there was finally nothing that could be done for them, and they let go? That was the one thing that Patrick hated about his job of choice. Medicine could only go so far, and there was a lot that medicine couldn't overcome.

Like Leukemia.

"Are you okay?" Patrick still didn't look her in the eye. There was something bothering him, something deep inside him and she could tell but he was avoiding the situation. He was building up the wall brick by brick in front of her eyes, all over again. The wall that they had worked so hard together to break down.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to go take a break." He started walking away. "I'll be on the roof if anyone needs me."

Robin watched him walk down the hall and turn the corner. There was something seriously off with him all of a sudden. His whole demeanor had changed, as did his attitude. He had walked out of that exam room, a different man than when he had walked in. It was obvious he was fighting a losing battle within himself, but he wouldn't allow himself to be open and honest and tell her what was bothering him. He was still protecting himself, not willing to let her in completely.

--

He opened the door and the burst of cold air hit him… fast. But he barely felt the temperature difference. His body was numb. Never had a patient affected him as much as that little girl. Never had he allowed a patient affect him this much. Robin had pestered him nonstop about his terrible bedside manner, but this was exactly what he had been protecting himself from. If he remained their doctor and nothing more, he didn't run the risk of getting hurt himself. If he only did what he had been taught to do, things wouldn't get complicated and he would be able to walk out of the room with no connections and no regrets.

Many misconstrued him as being cold, heartless. But that couldn't have been farther from the truth. He wasn't cold and he did have a heart. He was reminded of that every time he looked at a picture of his father, or every time he ended up alone being drug into the past like right now. For years, he had perfected the art of pushing people away and letting no one new into his life. Things got too complicated; he packed up and moved leaving everything behind him. It was his MO. He never stayed in one place too long and when he did, he kept to himself never letting anyone get to know him.

And he couldn't even explain why. He never really did understand why his life was the way it was. He was what most women would consider gorgeous and he never had had a problem in that department, and he had a great career. He was a surgeon who woke up every morning to help make people better, save their lives. He wanted it to be enough. He wanted to wake up every morning and be satisfied. He wanted to go to bed at night knowing that he had made a difference that day, even if it was only a small difference. It was something.

He heard the door open and close loudly behind him but he didn't move to turn around. He knew who it was, and he wasn't ready to open up about everything to her just yet. If he did, he would be breaking his pattern. He would be connected to someone, even a little bit, and he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't risk giving a part of himself over to her and never getting it back.

"I know you wanted to be alone…" She began but stopped. He hadn't shown any sign that he cared that she was even near him. Maybe she should have just left him alone, like he had asked.

She turned to leave. This had been a mistake.

"My dad died when I was eighteen." He said softly, almost a whisper. He sighed deeply. It was too late. He had started it and now he had to finish. "He had cancer."

She walked up next to him and touched his arm gently. She wasn't sure if _she _was ready to hear this, but he needed to talk, he needed to tell somebody. And if he felt that she was who he wanted to tell, then she was going to listen. She was going to put everything in their past behind them, she wasn't going to laugh at him or make fun of him. She was going to listen and be a friend.

"I told you the night in the park that I had lost my mother… which is true, but I didn't tell you the whole truth." He continued looking out into the sky; anywhere but at her. He refused to meet her eyes. "My dad had cancer. We found out when I was fifteen and he immediately started taking treatments. He said from the very beginning that he was going to fight and we never argued with him, because we knew that he would. Me and my mother were everything to him and we knew it. The thought of losing him never crossed our minds… we wouldn't let it."

She watched as the tears formed in his eyes and a few managed to escape and glide down his unshaven cheek. She had never seen him this emotional, this open and honest. She wasn't quite sure what to say, so she stood by, quietly waiting for him to continue.

"My mom was a surgeon," He smiled, "she always said that she wanted nothing more than to watch me follow in her footsteps." The smile faded from his face as the other memories flooded through his mind. "My father wanted her to operate on him. The caner had grown so much that the only chance he had of survival was surgery, and he said he would only go through with it if my mother performed the surgery." He closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain from those years before. "She didn't want to at first but he was getting worse and she wasn't ready to lose the man she loved… so she agreed."

He grew silent. "W—what happened?" Robin stammered, unsure.

"He died on the table in the first hour of the surgery." He finally locked eyes with her and she was surprised to not see pain and sadness there, but anger. "Things were as normal as possible for the first few months. The funeral came and went and my high school graduation came… my mom was fine, but slowly she gave in. She missed him so much and she couldn't handle it. She needed something to take the pain away and she turned to alcohol, she stopped eating and taking care of herself." He paused. "She had already lost her husband, the man that meant everything to her and here I was leaving and going to college. She felt like she was losing me too."

How did she take all of this information? All this time she had judged Patrick on his outward appearance. Never really trying to get to know him and see what he had been through. Now she was seeing this man standing in front of her, torn and alone.

"I told you I lost my mom… and I did. I lost her to the alcohol. When I lost my father, I lost both my parents." He began pacing. He had been this open with anyone is an extremely long time. How had he ended up here, telling all of this to Robin Scorpio? "It was bad enough going through the transition from a kid to a man without my father, but I lost my mother too. I was so lost but I promised myself that I was going to go through with the plan. I promise myself that I was going to become the man that my father always wanted me to be… and somewhere I always hoped that it would bring my mom back to me too."

"Have you talked to her?"

He shook his head. "It's been almost two years. She came to me and I tried to help her but she didn't want my help… she stole two hundred dollars from me and I don't know where she is." He was growing angrier with every step he took, back and forth, back and forth. "I don't even care. She isn't the woman that I grew up with. She isn't that woman that my father loved…"

But Robin could tell that he did care. It was written all over his face.

She walked in front of him, forcing him to stop pacing and stare her straight in the face. He looked deep into her eyes, searching for some kind of an answer. He needed her to help him. He needed her to give him the answers, the solution. But she didn't have any answers. She didn't know what to say to make things better, to help him. It didn't matter how bad she wanted to take all of his pain away.

She stepped closer to him and watched as the questions flashed across the same eyes that were filled with so much pain and anger. But once again, she didn't have the answers. She wasn't sure what she was doing. She just knew that right now he needed someone. He needed a friend. Someone who understands…someone to be there for him and to listen to him. She looked in his eyes once more before pulling him close to her and wrapping her arms around his waist. There were no words that could be said to make things okay for him, but for a brief moment, if she could make him know that he wasn't alone… she had succeeded.

It wasn't until she felt his body wracking against her own that she knew he was crying, bringing tears to her own eyes.

--

A/N: Okay so I said a few days and here it is… I have to admit that I'm fairly proud of myself and all of you should know that I'm blowing off my homework to get this to you. My AP homework! But I'm not complaining… hehe But I hope you liked this chapter and I hope this explained a little more about the changes I'm making…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Are the emotions enough for you? I'm trying to make this story as angsty as possible. I mean, we are getting angst on the show right now but not the angst we want between Robin and Patrick…sigh. But thank you guys once again for the amazing reviews. I so enjoy reading them and it gives me a reason to update sooner.

So here is the next chapter…

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To Close for Comfort

Chapter Three: Undefined Mystery

They walked silently back through the halls of General Hospital, neither really sure of what to say. How do you put words on something so special that they had shared? But what exactly was it that they had shared? Where did this leave him now?

He glanced at her walking beside him. She took two steps for every one of his because of her size. She was small but yet, she was mighty. She knew just what to do on that roof to make him feel better, to make his problems seem like they didn't matter. When she had stepped in front of him and pulled his body to hers, the world seemed right. He felt safe in her tiny arms; like it was where he was supposed to be.

He hadn't meant to be that honest with her and he certainly hadn't meant for her to see him cry, but once again, it was something about her. She made him feel safe, she made him want to be a better person and let someone in. She made him want to open up his heart once more and learn to love like he was supposed to.

She turned her head to face him and saw the slight blush that had risen in his cheeks. She knew that he was embarrassed because of what had just occurred on the roof, but she herself couldn't have felt more comfortable. She finally felt like she was seeing the real Patrick, and not the faulty one. The Patrick that was sensitive and who cared about others, the Patrick that she could see herself really caring about.

She couldn't explain the high that she had experienced while she was standing body to body with him. It was more than a physical attraction… so much more. 

"You know…" She began. "It's the strangest thing but for once, I don't want you to leave." She smiled up at him. "Do you want to get some coffee or something?" Was this really happening? Was she really the one propositioning him now?

He thought briefly about giving her some sort of smart comeback in return, some silly remark. But he didn't. She had now seen all sides of him and he couldn't act like she hadn't. "Sure." He agreed and bowed him head. He was finally getting what he had wanted…

--

"You are kidding me? There is no way…" Patrick argued, with a sexy smile plastered on his face. "You, Dr. Scorpio, Miss conservative-never-do-anything-fun with your nose permanently implanted in your research, actually went skydiving?"

"Don't be so surprised…" She flashed him a sly smile. "It was right before Stone got really sick. He knew that he was dying, I had no clue, but he wanted to take every risk that he could. He wanted to live what was left of his life to the fullest and we did. We did every crazy thing that you could think of: bungee jumping, skydiving, swimming with sharks. We splurged and went on a totally expensive weekend away."

She stopped speaking and Patrick noticed the look of reminiscence in her eyes. He thought that all of this talk would make her sad and depressed but she still had a smile on her face. It was obvious that they had shared something amazing and it was obvious that she still held so much love for him.

"Anyway…" She came back to earth, remembering that she was at Kelly's with Patrick. "It ripped my heart out when I had to let him go but he wouldn't have wanted my life to end. He would have wanted me to live. He would have wanted me to be happy and to smile when remembering him, not cry."

"It's obvious that the two of you had something special…"

"What about you?" She changed the subject. "Tell me about your first love."

"I can't." He stated simply, sitting back in his chair. "I don't have one." He watched her surprised reaction before continuing. "I swore off love when my father died." 

"So that's where your reputation comes into play…" She finally understood.

"Exactly." Patrick agreed. "I'm known as a playboy because I go out with different women and don't make a commitment, and people think very little of me. When in reality, you don't have to sleep with a woman when you go out on a date. I may date a lot but I don't sleep with as many women as people think."

"So why did you swear off love? From what you have told me and what I have heard, Noah and your mother were quite an item. Why wouldn't you want that kind of love?"

"Because of what that love did to my mother. She loved my father so completely that losing him… made her lose herself." He coughed, trying to get rid of the sudden lump that formed in his throat. "I watched her fall to pieces and leave me in the shadows and there wasn't a thing I could do."

"When I went to college, I was the best student. I studied all the time, rarely left my dorm room. Eventually I started going out and I was opened up to the real world with the beautiful women…" He smirked at her, "and I decided to shelter my heart but not be sheltered. I wasn't going to let anyone near my heart but I couldn't just stop living…"

She nodded. "That's the way I was after Stone's death. I had had my one great love in life and for whatever reason he had been taken from me, and I didn't want to go on. But you can't shelter your heart. You have to get out there and let whatever happens, happen. Love truly is an amazing thing when you allow yourself to fall totally and completely…"

"You of all people should understand where I'm coming from. For you it was losing Stone and being hurt by Morgan. For me, it was watching my mother get lost in the bottle…" He sighed. "There have been times where I wish I had someone I could call up at any time of night and bare my soul completely to them, but I can't be that vulnerable. I have worked too hard to keep myself locked away from the world to stop now."

She nodded. She did understand. She understood completely. But who was she to give him a lecture and try to explain the excellence of love? He was right… she had lost Stone and Jason and because of that she hadn't let herself fall in love with another man. She couldn't tell him to open up more, see deep inside someone, let that person in… if she couldn't do it herself.

He glanced at his watch for the first time that evening. "You know, Dr. Scorpio, it's getting pretty late. We should really get you home."

"I actually had a good time tonight, Dr. Drake. We should do this more often." She smiled at him.

"I'm going to remind you that you said that…" He warned, "…right now when I ask you to go to dinner with me tomorrow night."

She looked up at him, now standing so close to her. It was strange what a difference one day could make. The day before they had just been friendly colleagues and that was on a good day, and now… they were undefined but it was nice. It was nice not having anything to live up to and learning about the deep insides of the other person at the right pace. They weren't rushing into anything and neither was quite sure where things were going to go. But that was the best part… the mystery. 

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A/N: So this chapter is extremely short and it's taken me a little bit to post it and I'm sorry about that but it's the best I can do when I'm sick with the flu, so I hope it came out alright… I think I'm going to get the story moving a little farther along in the next chapter so look for the real sense of the story to come through. Hope you liked it!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Once again, I didn't exactly update this story as quickly as I would have liked. Things got really stressful and confusing right when I got back into writing this chapter and I wasn't exactly able to find time to sit down and write. This chapter isn't all that long; it's kind of a filler. It's just trying to get their feelings out in the open, at least with themselves. But I have some plans for this story so please be patient with me and stick with me. I have exams in a couple weeks so a lot of my time will be spent studying but after exams I am out of school for three months so hopefully then, I will manage to update a little quicker. But thanks you guys for all of the amazing reviews and please, keep 'em coming!

Here we go…

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To Close for Comfort

Chapter Five: The Truth in Fairy Tales

He walked through his apartment door at three in the morning, an unmistakable smile plastered on his face. He unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt near his neck and around his wrist. He took his watch off, and took his wallet out of his back pocket, walking down his dark hallway to his bedroom. He threw his watch and wallet on the side table near the door and finished unbuttoning his shirt. He had a giddy feeling flowing through his body. He felt like he was floating.

Any other time he would have considered a night like tonight, a sham. He wasn't having a good time in her bed right now... he hadn't even gotten a good night kiss! The funny thing was, however, he didn't really care. For the first time in quite awhile, he had had a real conversation with an intelligent woman. She hadn't gone with him expecting anything from him in return. It was simply dinner and some good company. And for once, that had been enough. He found himself laughing and smiling. He even caught himself staring at her quite a bit. She was just so infectious. She never had any expectations of him or anyone around her. She knew the world was tough, she knew the world could disappoint. He felt his stomach constrict at the thought of being that thing, that person that disappointed her. He felt himself changing. He felt his attitude changing, his everyday life. He was constantly thinking of her and what she would do. If he was faced with a difficult decision, he always wondered what Robin would do. Would she face this problem head on or run away scared?

That night on the roof, something in him shifted. Suddenly he realized he didn't have to be that cold and unfeeling person anymore. He didn't have to shelter himself. Sure, he was terrified of falling for someone and getting hurt but wasn't that apart of life? Getting hurt but having the strength to move past it? She taught him that. He always had so much respect for her and the life she lived. Yes, he had antagonized her when they first met; always criticizing her life with his theories, but he never truly wanted to hurt her and he always respected her. Knowing that she was HIV positive, she had lost so many people she loved at such a young age... she was the strongest person he had ever met.

Now he was stripped down to his boxer shorts and heading for the bathroom, ready for his hot shower... He felt his feelings growing each and every day for her. The possibility that he was falling in love with her always in the back of his mind, but he refused to let himself believe that he could feel that emotion. He was scared that if he let himself recognize that he was capable of feeling love and being in love, he would run scared. He would run away from her and never look back, too afraid to go through what his mother went through when she lost his father.

The water slammed into his body, soothing his tense muscles, relaxing his body in seconds. He wasn't sure where exactly things were going to go with him and Robin. She was such an amazing woman and to even be able to spend a little time with her was amazing and he was extremely lucky. He didn't want to over-analyze... so he was going to let it all go. He was going to let whatever was going to happen, happen.

--

She sat on her couch, watching television and eating a pint of her favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream... Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Normally, she saved such things for special occasions; celebrations. But now she found herself, unable to sleep; her mind focused on the man she had just spent her evening and night with. She had seen a different side of him during the freak accident today. She saw the sympathetic side, the doctor side. The time when all that mattered were the patients and saving all of their lives. He was on a mission... Superman. He was determined to try and save every person that walked into that hospital. It didn't matter by what means... he was going to save their lives. And he did.

Somehow, in a matter of only a day, her feelings for the doctor had changed. She knew that for the past few weeks she had been denying her feelings for him and playing it off by fighting and arguing with him any chance she got. But in one day and on the brink of a crisis, he showed his real side. He showed the side of Patrick Drake that she could actually have feelings for; fall in love with.

The thought was crazy actually. What really was love? Webster's dictionary defines it as "a feeling of attraction resulting from sexual desire." If that was true then she was hopelessly and madly in love with the man in question, and she had been since the minute she met him. But she wasn't the only one. She was only one woman at General Hospital, in Port Charles. He showed up and forever the looks of men were changed. But she wasn't in love with him. She wasn't. She refused to believe that she _could _be... no.

Of course, Mr. Webster left out the truth of love. The petty, meaningless fights and arguments when in a bad mood or when the other person just grows alittlebit over the line of annoying. The heartbreak when it all ends and your world has come to a screeching halt, and is crumbling at your feet. The tears and the endless amounts of ice cream and chocolate consumed. Love was shown as the everlasting emotion; nothing could break it or bend it. Love conquers all. There will always be a happy ending. The princess always finds her prince and they ride off into the sunset.

Some would say that stuff was only in fairly tales, none of it ever came true. She was divided. Part of her wanted to believe that she was Cinderella and she had found her prince. But at the same time, she knew better than anyone that life wasn't fair and the person you love could be taken from you without a moment's notice. That certainly wasn't in any fairy tale that she had ever read.

Patrick had a reputation. He was the womanizer, the dog, the cheater. He was never anyone's prince charming. Sure, he was tall, dark, and handsome but that was the major problem. Almost every women she knew, was attracted to him. And who wouldn't be? With his tall, lean, muscular body and to die for smile with that perfectly placed dimple? He was a hottie and he knew it. He worked the attention for all he could get and didn't know when to stop.

Could she be with a man who was biological flirt? Would he be able to resist the other women and be in a monogamous relationship? Was he even willing to give up his freedom?

Who was she kidding? They had just had a dinner and a really great conversation but that didn't mean they were "dating." If anything, it just made things all that much more complicated because now where did they stand? Was it just what it seemed, a simple dinner? Was it more? Was she reading too much into whatever "it" was?

She was emotional. She was a woman. But Patrick was a man. He saw things from a different angle than she did, and not only because of their height difference. When he looked at a woman, it was like he was a lion hunting his prey. He saw what he wanted and went after it. But she, on the other hand, was more reserved. She didn't roll with the punches and grab life by the horns, waiting to see where it all took her. She had HIV and that restricted her. Although, she was finally realizing that her disease didn't have to control her life. Much of that realization had to do with Patrick. He walked into her life smug and cocky and was turning her world upside down.

Now she just had to decide if she was willing to jump aboard the ride and enjoy every moment… or be left in the dust wishing she could let go of her inhibitions. Wishing she could be the woman that Patrick pictured himself with. The woman that he sought out in the bars and clubs at night. The woman that, maybe, he could change for.


End file.
